Search results for "Nonmammalian"
showing 10 items of 127 documents
An acid extract from dissociation medium of sea urchin embryos, induces mesenchyme differentiation
1992
Abstract When material extracted by 1 M acetic acid from the dissociation medium of sea urchin embryos is added at low concentrations to isolated primary mesenchyme cells, it induces skeletogenesis. The same material added to dissociated blastula cells, or to embryos at the blastula stage, stimulates skeleton formation and pigment cell differentiation. On dissociated cells, it also increases cell reaggregation, thymidine incorporation and survival. On embryos, it induces exogastrulation and appearence of extraembryonic pigment cells. The activity of the extract is resistant to raised temperatures and partially to tryptic digestion but is abolished by trypsin treatment followed by heating. T…
The p21-activated kinase Mbt is a component of the apical protein complex in central brain neuroblasts and controls cell proliferation
2013
The final size of the central nervous system is determined by precisely controlled generation, proliferation and death of neural stem cells. We show here that the Drosophila PAK protein Mushroom bodies tiny (Mbt) is expressed in central brain progenitor cells (neuroblasts) and becomes enriched to the apical cortex of neuroblasts in a cell cycle- and Cdc42-dependent manner. Using mushroom body neuroblasts as a model system, we demonstrate that in the absence of Mbt function, neuroblasts and their progeny are correctly specified and are able to generate different neuron subclasses as in the wild type, but are impaired in their proliferation activity throughout development. In general, loss of…
The RNA-binding protein ELAV regulates Hox RNA processing, expression and function within the Drosophila nervous system
2014
The regulated head-to-tail expression of Hox genes provides a coordinate system for the activation of specific programmes of cell differentiation according to axial level. Recent work indicates that Hox expression can be regulated via RNA processing but the underlying mechanisms and biological significance of this form of regulation remain poorly understood. Here we explore these issues within the developing Drosophila central nervous system (CNS). We show that the pan-neural RNA-binding protein (RBP) ELAV (Hu antigen) regulates the RNA processing patterns of the Hox gene Ultrabithorax (Ubx) within the embryonic CNS. Using a combination of biochemical, genetic and imaging approaches we demo…
Constitutive Promoter Occupancy by the MBF-1 Activator and Chromatin Modification of the Developmental Regulated Sea Urchin α-H2A Histone Gene
2007
The tandemly repeated sea urchin alpha-histone genes are developmentally regulated. These genes are transcribed up to the early blastula stage and permanently silenced as the embryos approach gastrulation. As previously described, expression of the alpha-H2A gene depends on the binding of the MBF-1 activator to the 5' enhancer, while down-regulation relies on the functional interaction between the 3' sns 5 insulator and the GA repeats located upstream of the enhancer. As persistent MBF-1 binding and enhancer activity are detected in gastrula embryos, we have studied the molecular mechanisms that prevent the bound MBF-1 from trans-activating the H2A promoter at this stage of development. Her…
EGTA treatment causes the synthesis of heat shock proteins in sea urchin embryos.
2000
Paracentrotus lividus embryos, at post-blastular stage, when subjected to a rise in temperature from physiologic (20 degrees C) to 31 degrees C, synthesize a large group of heat shock proteins (hsps), and show a severe inhibition of bulk protein synthesis. We show, by mono- and two-dimensional electrophoresis, that also EGTA (ethylene glycol-bis[beta-aminoethyl ether] tetraacetic acid) treatment induces in sea urchin embryos both marked inhibition of bulk protein synthesis and the synthesis of the entire set of hsps. Furthermore, EGTA-treated sea urchin embryos are able to survive at a temperature otherwise lethal (35 degrees C) becoming thermotolerant. Because incubation with a different c…
Cadmium induces an apoptotic response in sea urchin embryos.
2007
Cadmium is a heavy metal toxic for living organisms even at low concentrations. It does not have any biological role, and since it is a permanent metal ion, it is accumulated by many organisms. In the present paper we have studied the apoptotic effects of continuous exposure to subacute/sublethal cadmium concentrations on a model system: Paracentrotus lividus embryos. We demonstrated, by atomic absorption spectrometry, that the intracellular amount of metal increased during exposure time. We found, using terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling assay, that long treatments with cadmium triggered a severe DNA fragmentation. We demonstrated, by immunocytochemistry …
The serosa of Manduca sexta (Insecta, Lepidoptera): ontogeny, secretory activity, structural changes, and functional considerations
2001
In Manduca sexta, the blastoderm forms successively and becomes immediately cellularized as the cleavage energids reach the surface of the oocyte. Presumptive serosal cells are large and contain 2 or 4 large polyploid nuclei; presumptive embryonic cells are small and mononuclear. All parts of the blastoderm participate in the uptake and digestion of yolk material. About 10 h post-oviposition, the blastoderm breaks at the amnioserosal fold and the extraembryonic part closes above the germ band and constitutes the serosa (12 h post-oviposition, i.e. 10% development completed). At once, the serosa starts to secrete a cuticle consisting of an epi- and a lamellated endocuticle. Detachment of the…
Highly restricted expression at the ectoderm–endoderm boundary of PIHbox 9, a sea urchin homeobox gene related to the human HB9 gene
1998
Abstract Characterisation of a sea urchin (P. lividus) homeobox gene PIHbox 9 is reported. The homeodomain of PIHbox9 is 95% identical to the homeodomain of the human HB9 gene, indicating that the two genes are highly related. Temporal expression analysis during sea urchin embryogenesis showed an absence of transcripts at early cleavage stages. At late gastrula stage, transcripts were barely detectable and reached the highest abundance at prism/early pluteus stages. By whole mount in situ hybridisation we observed a highly restricted expression in a few cells of the ectoderm–endoderm boundary of embryos at the prism stage. At pluteus stages, expression of PIHbox 9 was confined around the an…
A temperature-sensitive brain tumor suppressor mutation of Drosophila melanogaster: Developmental studies and molecular localization of the gene
1993
The recessive-lethal, temperature-sensitive (ts) mutation of the tumor suppressor gene lethal(3)malignant brain tumor (l(3)mbt) causes in a single step the malignant transformation of the adult optic neuroblasts and ganglion mother cells in the larval brain at the restrictive temperature of 29 degrees C. The transformed cells are differentiation-incompetent and grow autonomously in a lethal and invasive fashion in situ in the brain as well as after transplantation in vivo into wild-type adult hosts. The imaginal discs show epithelial overgrowth. At the permissive temperature of 22 degrees C development is completely normal. The ts-period of gene activity responsible for 100% brain tumor sup…
saliva, a new Drosophila gene expressed in the embryonic salivary glands with homologues in plants and vertebrates.
1998
saliva (slv) transcription begins at the salivary gland placodes and continues on throughout development as salivary glands invaginate and reach their final location and morphology. saliva is located cytogenetically in 76A/B, and encodes a 226-amino-acid protein with four hydrophobic domains. A Northern blot detects a 1.6-kb transcript throughout development. Database similarity searches reveal homology to proteins from Caenorhabditis, Lilium, Medicago and mouse.